2 months of propecia, stil feeling symptoms after two weeks

Member Stories
#1

0) Where are you from (country)? UK

1) How did you find this forum? Searching for head pressure/headache symptoms related to propecia

2) What is your current age, height, weight? 30 years old, 172 cm, 62kg

3) Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? No exercise

4) What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? Mostly anything… currently travelling around Asia, will be vegetarian some weeks, or eat fish every day for other weeks,etc

5) Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? Hair loss

6) For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? About 2 months

7) How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? Started in April 2015 (aged 30)

8) How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? Stopped early July 2015

9) How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? Slight taper off for a couple of weeks

10) What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? Thai generic

11) What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1.25mg/day

12) How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? Lost libido very early on, but didn’t have head pain until I stopped

13) What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?

Sexual
[X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[X] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[X] Confusion
[X] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[X] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[X] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[X] Other (please explain) - headaches (something I never get) and the feeling of pressure around the top of my head

14) What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? Trying Ayuvedic treatments now

15) If you have pre or post-Finasteride bloodtests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (pls post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)? N/A

16) Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride? N/A

17) Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.

I started it to see if it would help my hair loss (along with the anti-fungal shampoo who’s name escapes me). I had seen that potential symptoms were loss of libido, but everything I had read at the time said it would come back when I stopped taking the pill. In the end the loss of libido wasn’t worth preventing hair loss, so I decided to taper off to avoid crashes that I’d now read about. I tapered off and then stopped. Around the same time I started getting very foggy headed but I thought it was down to catching a cold or flu or something. Only after about 2 weeks of non-stop head pressure did it click that maybe Propecia was to blame (i was taking desiccated thyroid and hydrocortisone and thought maybe I was getting the dosage wrong).

I’m just about to start some ayurvedic medicines that have been “prescribed” to me in India (I’ll write them down later). They appear to be all for my gut. Once I have completed these ones I will try another couple of medicines mentioned on this forum (Ashwagandha for general health and libido, and Gugulipid for the liver). The doctor believes that healing the gut will resolve the other issues and I think he’s right, although I’m not sure how successful the initial medicines will be. I will be cutting out gluten and cows milk, I will continue to take my thyroid and cortisol, I will be taking B vitamins and eventually selenium, vitamin D and K2. I think mrfreet.com is correct in that these symptoms are down to an underlying gut problem, and fixing the gut will eventually fix the symptoms. I’m probably going to try fasting, and maybe aspirin to see if it helps the head fog. Diet wise I might start to implement some of Ray Peat’s ideas, as he’s big on increasing testosterone and lowering estrogen. I might try Propranalol as recommended on this forum for head fog also. Basically I feel at the lowest point of my life right now, so I will work tirelessly to get rid of this disorder.

I will check in again after my first round of medicine is completed (15 days to 1 month depending on how I feel).

Brit here from 2 months of finasteride use
#2

Did your head pressure ever go away?

1 Like
#3

I wish I had joined this forum years ago I see far too many previous posts where people don’t get a response.
Considering this board has thousands of members it seems alot people don’t get any replies it’s like everyone is locked onto solving their own issues forgetting the fact that we have to assist each other and that can bring answers or help identify patterns in itself.

1 Like
#4

I don’t know whether people register when they are at their worst and then become inactive again. It seems that over time there is a constant evolution of active posters. As to why people become inactive I don’t know. Whether they have improved to a point where they can live their life or whether the lack of discernible improvement and the natural slow pace of finding answers has led people to switch off in time. I think that as humans we all have an innate survival and preservation instinct. Because what has happened to us all could be described at the level of a trauma, how we cope with managing this may reflect on participation. For some, this forum is a vital support and maybe for others the weight of it all over time and also the inevitable readjustment to living with a different health outlook may lead to a need to break away. Sometimes focussing on this can be counter productive for some and they have to break away for their sanity. This is all speculation on my part of course, and it would be interesting to hear from those who have been away for a while, like the member in this thread.

2 Likes
#5

The head pressure went away within a few weeks of the initial crash. Tho it does feel like it might be there a little bit even now. Not noticeable though unless I think about it. Nothing like how it was tho - was very uncomfortable back then

I’ve been up and down since I made my original post. My erections are generally fine and I get physically horny every day, but I don’t have much mental libido still. And still got depression, in a lack of desire sense rather than a being sad sense. My digestion is generally fine now, normal stools etc. Possibly even better than it used to be, but probably because I’ve been more careful with my diet

My next step is to go back on St John’s Wort (for depression) and low dose Naltrexone (for mild autoimmune issues that have come up)

#6

  1. Where are you from (country)? UK

  2. How did you find this forum (Google search – if so, what search terms? Via link from a forum or website – if so, what page? Other?) Google

  3. What is your current age, height, weight? 30, 170cm, 60kg

  4. Do you excercise regularly? If so, what type of excercise? gym only, and not regularly

  5. What type of diet do you eat (vegetarian, meat eater, raw, fast-food/organic healthy)? local thai food… lots of fruit, rice, curries, meats, fish etc

  6. Why did you take Finasteride (hair loss, BPH, other)? hair loss

  7. For how long did you take Finasteride (weeks/months/years)? 2 months

  8. How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start Finasteride? 29, around April 2015

  9. How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 29

  10. How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? short taper off - started taking it every other day, then every few days, etc

  11. What type of Finasteride did you use – Propecia, Proscar, Fincar or other generic? thai generic

  12. What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)? 1.25mg/day

  13. How long into your use of Finasteride did you notice the onset of side effects? lost erections and libido pretty quickly

  14. What side effects did you experience while on the drug that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?

Put an X beside all that apply:

Sexual
[X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[X] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[X] Watery Ejaculate
[X] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[X] Confusion
[X] Memory Loss / Forgetfullness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[X] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

  1. What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? dabbling with progesterone

  2. If you have pre or post-Finasteride bloodtests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (pls post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)?

  3. Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience with Finasteride?

  4. Tell us your story, in your own words, about your Finasteride usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.

I took the pill for a couple of months. At first I wasn’t too bothered by the lack of libido as I was too promiscuous for my own good previously, and was more productive as a result of the pill. Eventually though I realised I felt less human by a lack of libido. I did some googling about tapering off but didn’t see much useful info, so I just cut down my dosage frequency. When I finally stopped, within a day or two (I forget now), migraines took hold. I’d never had a migraine before (I rarely even had headaches), so at the time I didn’t know what was going on. I only realised it after trying in vain to google my symptoms. It felt like my brain was pushing up against my skull, lots of pressure. It lasted for days then eventually subsided.

Ever since then I’ve had pretty much permanent brain fog. I remember one day I woke up feeling perfect, better than before the pill, but it was a one off. My libdio sort of returned (still weak), as did my erections. They’re not great but it’s better than nothing. I get depressive days if I don’t eat regularly. I have trouble peeing sitting down sometimes, it feels like it won’t all come out properly.

Around the time I came off the pill I was trying to mend my adrenals and thyroid, as my body temp was low and my pupil test was alarming. I took HC and NDT for a few weeks, and my body temperature stabilised. I think taking either B vitamins or selenium has kept it at a healthy level but I’m not sure which one, so I’m currently testing that out by excluding one or the other.

I’m currently taking the following:

  • 5000IU of Vitamin D3 (with K2) when I wake up
  • 2.5mg/day of Selegiline
  • B-Right vitamin B complex by Jarrow - for MTHFR mutation. I haven’t actually checked my genes yet, it was more of a hunch based on pre-Finasteride symptoms. I feel much more awake when I take this. Without it I get yawny for a lot of the day
  • 200mg Selenium - currently on hold
  • 60mg zinc before bed

I tried 50mg of pregnenolone but it seemed to make my head worse. I was testing out 5mg of transdermal progesterone and I feel like my head feels slightly better when taking it (if I start to feel migrainy), but 10mg makes my testicles ache. I tried maca but didn’t really notice any change. I also have vitamin E but I haven’t been consistently taking it.

My results on 03/10/2015 were as follows:

Free T3	             2.95 pg/mL   (1.71-3.71)
Free T4                1.09 ng%     (0.70-1.48)

Estraidol/E2	          23 pg/mL   (11.0-44.0)
Progesterone	        0.28 ng/mL	
Prolactin             10.29 ng/mL   (3.46-19.40)
Total Testosterone    8.484 ng/mL   (1.424-9.231)
DHEA                  173.1 ug/dL   (80-560)
FSH                     1.3 mIU/mL  (0.95-11.95)
LH                      2.8 mIU/mL  (1.14-8.75)

So low LH, FSH, and DHEA. Total testosterone was high but I think that might have been because I was using progesterone that week and stopped a day or two before the tests - my libido was unusually high that day. I’m going to get the tests done again to see if there are any changes.

If T goes low and FSH/LH stay low, I will try letrozole, 2.5mg/week as I have seen people have a lot of success on it. I want to avoid trying SERMs like clomid unless I have to, as I’m scared of getting floaters